Tellefsen Hall is home to 44 members of the University of California Marching Band (Cal Band) and we’re actively looking for new members to join our house as our members graduate. We offer a unique living experience that you can’t get anywhere else on campus. Our housing options are up to $7,705 cheaper than the average dorm room provided by Cal Housing (2023-2024). We have our own full time chef, cleaning staff, in-house leadership, student-ran committees, and Board of Directors that ensure your experience at TH will be a positive one. Everyone in the house is a member of the Cal Band, so you’ll be living with the people you practice and perform with. It’s a great community of band members at an affordable price.
Location
Many students who come to Berkeley quickly realize that finding affordable housing at a reasonable distance from the classroom can be an undertaking in itself. Residents of Tellefsen Hall (TH for short) enjoy the close proximity to campus — just two blocks from the latter’s north side. The Northside neighborhood is known for its safety and tranquility, and is home to various shops and restaurants, including two hair salons, a coffee shop, Mexican, Italian, Hindu, Thai, Japanese, and American restaurants, several small grocery stores, a stationary/copy business, and a florist.
TH itself sits on a peaceful, forested lot through which Strawberry Creek meanders on its journey to campus. Members can enjoy the outdoors on our newly renovated outdoor landscaping, or picnic on the deck in the spring. The building itself is among the older buildings in Berkeley and has earned a spot on Berkeley’s list of Landmarks and Structures of Merit list. Despite that, the building has undergone retrofitting several times – such as in the 90′s when it was seismically retrofitted for safety in case of an earthquake.
Academics
Tellefsen Hall is committed to creating not only a social atmosphere, but also one which is conducive to study and learning. Members can use TH’s library for a quiet homework venue throughout the day, and after dinner, quiet hours go into effect, during which members can study in the living room or at the dining room table without interruption.
Tellefsen Hall comes equipped with a variety of academic resources for our tenants. We offer an in-house library equipped with both free printing on our shared computer and a variety of textbooks and course readers that tenants can freely-borrow for common classes such as Math 1A, BIO1A, and English R1A. One of the Social Committee members also serves as the House’s academic advisor, offering useful tips to new students. In addition, TH provides blue/green books and scantrons for exams.
Quiet hours do not apply to the basement area (which also serves as a laundromat for members), so residents often take advantage of its seclusion to watch movies (with surround sound!), play video games, ping-pong, or simply chat with friends.
Room and Board
Tellefsen Hall is home to 44 residents, and is split up into 14 single-sex bedrooms, with two, three, or four members to a room. All of the rooms are furnished with standard twin-sized beds, dressers, desks, chairs, and floor-to-ceiling closets, and are wired with broadband internet, in addition to being equipped with Wifi 6 capabilities.
One of the greatest assets of Tellefsen Hall is our employees. Our chef, Noe Villa, prepares lunch, dinner, and the occasional dessert Monday through Friday for house members, and keeps the pantries and refrigerators well-stocked with breakfast foods, snacks, and cooking supplies, as many house members enjoy a bit of midnight experimentation. When Noe is not working, members are given meal vouchers that are redeemable at a number of North and South Side restaurants, so they have an opportunity to eat out on occasion.
In addition, the Tellefsen Hall housekeepers Bety and Mateo, a married couple that has worked in the house for the past 20 years, work tirelessly to clean the kitchen, common areas, and bathrooms daily.
Social Events
All House members pay social dues of $150/semester, and these funds become the bulk of the Social Account, managed by the House as a whole as advised by the Social Committee. The funds are used to pay for social events and trips House members take to nearby attractions. Recent destinations have included Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Paramount’s Great America in Santa Clara, the Berkeley Playhouse, and the Oakland Ice Center (for games of Broomball, a popular sport among House members). In addition, the Social Committee schedules numerous full-band gatherings during the fall and spring semester, a formal dinner and a formal dance as well.
Often, and especially during holidays, social events take place at Tellefsen Hall. Favorites include the annual Halloween pumpkin carving contest, a Thanksgiving Dinner, and the weasel-egg hunt at Easter.